This week, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander athletes and coaches from across the state will come together in Perth to attend the inaugural Aboriginal All Stars Leadership Camp. Athletes attending this camp will include the 2021 Aboriginal All Stars 14U & 16U team as well as Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander girls from the 2021 Regional Academy teams. This opportunity, which is a joint initiative of Netball WA and Shooting Stars, has been made possible thanks to Sport Australia’s 2021 Women Leaders in Sport grant and the Gold Industry Group.
The purpose of the 2021 Aboriginal All Stars Leadership camp is to bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes and coaches together from across the state to create opportunities for potential elite Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander women and girls to build their capacity as leaders in the sport, and to grow their potential, both professionally and personally, while exposing them to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander role models on and off court.
Across the week, the participants will be guided by one of Australia’s most successful Indigenous netballers: Sharon Finnan-White OAM. A proud Dunghutti and Gumbayngirr woman from the mid- coast of NSW, Sharon is one of only two Indigenous netballers to have represented the Australian Diamonds. Debuting for the Diamonds in 1990 in Auckland, NZL at the Commonwealth Games as Diamond #105, Sharon was a versatile defender and midcourter. With 20 international games under her belt, she went on to win two gold medals at the 1991 and 1999 World Cups, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, and was inducted into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Hall of Fame and the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Since her retirement from netball, Sharon has given back to the community through her coaching and is now the co-owner and director of Sharoma Indigenous Corporation and the Institute of Sport, Culture & Leadership Pty Ltd. During the Aboriginal All Stars Leadership Camp, Sharon will be sharing her story with the girls, facilitating goal setting workshops and speaking about her pathway.
Throughout the camp, the athletes and coaches will also have the opportunity to learn from local role models, former West Coast Fever player and proud Torres Strait Islander woman Josie-Janz Dawson; 2021 West Coast Fever Training partner & 2020 & 2021 Jill Macintosh medalist Donnell Wallam; proud Noongar woman, and 2019 & 2020 State Team member & East Fremantle Sharks player Shakayla Ugle, a proud Noongar & Yamatji woman. These role models will assist in facilitating on-court specialist sessions and sharing their netball journey with the athletes.
The athletes will engage in a day of on-country training with the Western Australian Aboriginal Leadership Institute (WAALI) at Kings Park, alongside the Gold Industry Group, and will engage in yarning circles and cultural wellbeing sessions facilitated by Shooting Stars staff, two proud Ballardong Noongar women and former WANL players Jade McGuire and Talicia Jetta.
Running from Monday 4th October through to Thursday 8th October, the Aboriginal All Stars Leadership Camp is an important opportunity to develop our up and coming Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander athletes not only as netballers, but as individuals. Following the camp, athletes will compete in the 2021 State Cup, from Friday 9th October to Sunday 10th October.
